Monday, June 27, 2005

Good Morning!

Hope you had a good weekend. I will be at class this coming Sunday -- thanks for being patient with my schedule.

Also, just a reminder -- we had trouble with our email system at work a couple of times this past week, so the morning emails went out late or not at all. Usually, even if that happens, I can post here, so if you don't have the morning email, try here.

The new unit for this week is Unit 9 , Marks of a Methodist

Focus Scripture for the Week: Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Today's scripture: John 3:16-21

-- very familiar scripture for us this week. One of the challenges of reading familar scripture is that we tend to gloss over the words, thinking that we have already learned everything there is to know from it. We should try our best to read all scripture, even very familiar scripture, with a sense of expectation -- that we will learn something new. Sometimes, you have to train yourself to read it slowly, or out loud, as a way of experiencing it in a different way.

-- the commentary in my Bible had an interesting comment on this verse. It said that many people - particularly people who don't know Christ -- make decisions as if this life -- their life on earth -- is the only life we have. Christians have a different perspective on things.

-- I think that the Reflections section of the lesson today captures perfectly and completely what I think we want from this class. I think that we all can read that section and say yes, that is what I want to be about. But "wantin' ain't gettin'" as the quote from Gone with the Wind says -- we have to make the effort everyday. And that is the discipline that we are striving for in the class -- in setting time aside for reading scripture and prayer everyday, in examining all that we do through a particular point of view, in taking seriously the committment that we have made to each other.

-- if you haven't looked at them lately, go to the web site and look for the link to Wesley's 22 Questions -- they provide an interesting guide for daily living. These were the questions that one of Wesley's first prayer groups/classes adopted as their committment to each other. Maybe we should specifically adopt these questions for our own use, or develop our own version of the questions.

Today's prayer request: Monica's nephew, Alex Lloyd

Alex is going to have a long-term presence on our list, due to the condition of his hip and the long term nature of his treatment

Today's class member prayer:

Nicole McKinney

Have a great day.

Jay